Wasatch High School history teacher and swim coach Shawn Marsing was told by school district administrators that Brigham Young University students would observe his class on Tuesday afternoon. So, when a mob of family members, friends and co-workers marched in instead, it came as quite a surprise.
Marsing still has “no idea” what he did to deserve the $10,000 check Superintendent Garrick Peterson gave him. He was one of nine teachers named a Distinguished Educator this week by the Wasatch Education Foundation, a local nonprofit that funds scholarships, awards, activities and food security programs for the school district.
Board member Terri Wright established the annual award in 2020. A former teacher, she was inspired by teachers’ ability to volunteer their time to support youth in and out of the classroom, often for low pay and little recognition.
Nine teachers were awarded $1,000 in 2020, but as donations to the foundation have increased, so has the amount each Distinguished Educator receives.
The award goes to one teacher from each school, other than Wasatch High School, which has two recipients. That will change to one recipient per building when Deer Creek High School opens in August.
Any community member can nominate a teacher for the award. Wright said there were almost 1,500 nominations this year.
While the number of nominations certainly influences who wins the award, the board makes the final decision.
“We go at it in a way that we are just wanting to be in tune with who it can really help,” Wright said. “We’ll find out that they are a single mom, or they’re going through cancer, or there are things that are going on in their personal lives. We had no idea, but there’s usually some reason they really needed that money for something.”
Wright said Marsing was one of the original teachers she eyed for the award back in 2020.
“(My daughter) was going to start swimming, so I went to the swimming meeting. And she decided that she couldn’t have her hair washed in the morning, so she didn’t even do the swim team,” she told Marsing. “But I watched you at that meeting, and your care, your concern, your professionalism. And I thought in my mind, ‘He’s going to get that award.’”
Family, friends and co-workers applaud Wasatch High School history teacher and swim coach Shawn Marsing in his classroom on Tuesday. Credit: David Jackson/Park Record 
Wasatch High School History teacher and Swim Coach Shawn Marsing is joined by his family as he is honored as a Distinguished Educator of 2026. Credit: David Jackson/Park Record 
A closer look at Shawn Marsing’s $10,000 cardboard check, which was accompanied by a legitimate paper check to deposit at the bank. Credit: David Jackson/Park Record
Six years later, the award came just in time as Marsing would not have been an eligible recipient next year. That’s because after 10 years at Wasatch High School, he will become the instructional coach at Deer Creek High School, teaching fellow educators how to best serve their students.
Marsing was both excited and terrified by the new role and insisted that he doesn’t have more wisdom than any other teacher. However, he emphasized that establishing a personal relationship with a student makes them more willing to learn.
It’s as simple as remembering birthdays and greeting kids by name, he said.
“Man, looking at their faces when you call them by name? They’re like, ‘Whoa,’ or a big smile, like, ‘Marsing knows who I am,’” he said. “These are little things, just making kids feel seen and that they’re important.”
Making material engaging for students is equally important, particularly for a history teacher.
“I didn’t have a lot of great experience in my history classes growing up,” he said. “I went to school in the 20th century, so, overhead projector, transparencies, lights out, go over the notes.”
It wasn’t until he studied at the University of Utah that Marsing realized just how relevant history was to his day-to-day life.
The rapid change of the Industrial Revolution, which he was lecturing about before his class was interrupted on Tuesday, is his favorite subject.
“How do you deal with that change? How does the government deal with that change? I feel like we’ve seen some of that in recent years. And how do we still build community when things get turned upside down on us?” he mused.
Marsing’s other areas of interest include rights movements and the 14th Amendment, which granted citizenship to formerly enslaved people when ratified in 1868.
For Marsing, the point of teaching such subjects is not retaining facts and dates, but instilling values applicable to daily life.
“It’s such an important class, learning how to take that and use it in your life, in your community. (It helps us) remember the beautiful freedoms we have in this country and the opportunity we have to … make sure other people have them as well,” he said.
Marsing’s philosophy is that school is the first exposure children have to democratic processes, civic engagement, community-building and fostering empathy through collective suffering.
He developed that mindset about seven years ago after emailing parents to ask what the purpose of a coach or teacher is.
“I got nothing back about ‘My kid swimming fast,’ or ‘My kid going to college or getting a scholarship.’ It was, ‘Teaching my kids how to be good humans and good adults, and to work hard and to see commitments through,’” he recalled.
The fact that parents nominated Marsing for the Distinguished Educator award is evidence that he followed through on that expectation.
“That they would trust me with their children is huge,” he said. “Your greatest treasure is your kids. My three kids mean everything to me, and every day, I’ve got 10 to 30 kids who walk in my classroom. They mean everything to their parents. I don’t take that lightly.”
Wasatch County School District’s 2026 Distinguished Educators
- Daniels Canyon Elementary School: Erica Johnson
- Heber Valley Elementary School: April Hill
- J.R. Smith Elementary School: Brandi Leavitt
- Midway Elementary School: Erika Knight
- Old Mill Elementary School: Melanie Tibbitts
- Rocky Mountain Middle School: Amanda Sanchez-Ruiz
- Timpanogos Middle School: Sarah Bray
- Wasatch High School: Carla Bedingfield
- Wasatch High School: Shawn Marsing